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Murders drop 30 percent, but other crimes surge in first part of 2014, NOPD says

Crime scene bike: Photo of the Day

New Orleans police investigated 28 percent fewer murder scenes in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the first three months of 2013, according to crime data statistics submitted to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report.
(Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

There are additional killings each year not classified as murders, making the death toll higher. At least three shooting deaths in the first part of 2014 were deemed justified by police and the cases submitted to prosecutors without arrest, so those killings would likely not be counted as murders.

As NOPD and City Hall point to anti-violence initiatives such as NOLA For Life and the prosecution of dozens of gangs in the reduction of murders, the latest statistics show setbacks in combating other serious crime:

Armed robberies rose 66.45 percent, with 253 reported in the first quarter of 2014 compared to 152 in the same period last year.

The number of reported rapes climbed from 31 in the first quarter of 2013 to 51 in the first quarter of this year, a leap of 64.5 percent.

Incidents of simple robbery increased by 44 percent, from 81 reports in the first three months of 2013 to 117 in the first quarter this year.

Auto theft jumped more than 40 percent in the same period, from 434 in 2013 to 609 this year.

Assaults, whether by hand or weapon, were up 31.55 percent, climbing from 355 in the first quarter last year to 467 in the first quarter of 2014.

Incidents of theft also were on the rise by more than 23 percent. There were 2,023 such cases early in 2013, and 2,491 in the first quarter this year.

The only category contained in the Uniform Crime Report other than murder in which New Orleans police reported a drop was in burglary. The decline was barely perceptible, with 778 cases in the first quarter last year compared to 759 in the first quarter this year, a drop of 2.44 percent.

"The people of New Orleans are working with the NOPD to identify criminals now more than ever," Serpas said. "But we've got to keep going. There's more work to be done."

Against the backdrop of that "institutional problem," as Quatrevaux called it, some might find an increase in rapes reported by the NOPD to be a somewhat counterintuitive silver lining. Jeff Dion, deputy executive director of the National Centers for Victims of Crime, recently estimated that only 27 percent of rapes are reported to police nationwide.

"Sexual assaults are among the most heinous crimes," Serpas said, "and our Sex Crimes Unit has made it a priority to make sure anyone who commits this crime is brought to justice. These statistics continue to show that more victims are coming forward than ever before, and that people believe our department can and will get these offenders off the streets."

As for the fast-rising other crimes, Serpas repeated his mantra that the understaffed NOPD is aggressively recruiting new officers. The city budgeted $300,000 for NOPD recruiting efforts and funded five new recruiting classes for 2014. But so far, only one new class of 32 recruits has begun academy training in 2014, and three members of that group dropped out within the first week.